All Chapters of Not bound by honey: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Soon we were all up, drifting into the cabin kitchen and greeting each other one by one.“Morning,” I said to Jocelyn.“Morning,” she replied, barely looking up.Jackson walked in next. “Morning.”Jason leaned against the counter, eyeing them both. “You two sleep in?”Jocelyn let out a dry laugh. “How could we? With you two doing who knows what all morning?”Jackson kept his head down, suddenly very interested in the floor.“Honestly,” she went on, folding her arms, “it’s been, what, eight years? And you’re still like rabbits.”Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Sorry, Joce. We thought we were being quiet.”The look she gave me said otherwise. Loud and clear.I cleared my throat, pushing past it. “We’re heading to the O’Neils today. I think you should come with, Jackson. We’re going to try bargain for your freedom. For both of you.” I glanced at Jocelyn. “What do you think?”Jackson hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Sounds good. I don’t exactly have a better plan.”“We’ll stop by Edith and Rang

Later, after everything settled, after the statements, the questions, and too many eyes on us, we stood outside again.Jackson looked different. Not like someone caught, but like someone exposed. Like something had been pulled out of him that he couldn’t put back.“You should go back with Edith,” I said quietly. “Stay hidden for now.”Jason nodded. “Take your mom and your brother too. Keep them out of this.”Jackson gave a small nod. “Yeah.” He hesitated before adding, “He’s not going to stop.”“I know,” I said. And I did. The way that man had looked at him… that wasn’t over.“Let’s go,” I added, gesturing for him to follow. “I bet Edith’s grandsons have already gotten back with your family.”We drove in silence, and for once it wasn’t a comfortable one. My mind kept racing, going over everything that had just happened, everything that had been said. And then it settled somewhere I didn’t want it to.Jocelyn.She wasn’t safe. Not really.My phone rang, sharp against the quiet.“What t

Jocelyn’s POVTwo days went past. Everyone was worried about Jackson.I wished a car would run him over.Now I was still betrothed, but not to his older forty-five-year-old cousin anymore. To him.There were a million corrupted women out there who would commit murder to be part of a family like this. So why couldn’t they just leave me in peace?“Morning,” my mother said cheerfully.I grabbed my toast and headed out the door.“How long are you going to be mad at me?” she called after me.“When you stop defending Jackson or acting like everything is okay,” I shot back. “I could be in my old town. I could see my friends. I could finally see Blake. But no, we’re stuck here because he had to get involved. I’m sick and tired of my life being affected by everyone else.”She was standing now, watching me carefully.“I get that,” she said with a sigh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you better. Or fight harder that night your father took you. I am not trying to act like everything is okay, I’m j

Edith patted the seat next to her. “Alright, so today we’re canning relish, stew, and beans. We’re also smoking beef and chicken. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to plant much in winter, so we preserve what we can. We host guests every day, so we have to stay prepared.” “Why do you do so much alone?” I asked. “Well, it wasn’t planned,” she said. “My husband and I used to live in the city. We’re both lawyers. We still practice, quietly, only when we have to. But there was a terrible incident at our firm, and our names were dragged into it. We lost everything.” She stirred slowly as she spoke, like the memory still lingered. “Ranger’s father had this land all along, but no one lived here. They just planted and harvested trees for paper. When we had nowhere else to go, we came here. Everything else followed.” She gestured around us. “We’re far from everything, and over time it just… grew. Like with the linen. We took in a struggling linseed farmer. We had space, so we let him pl

Jocelyn’s POV I stood in the doorway for a moment after getting back from the shop. The silence felt different up here. Even though I could still hear music and people from the campsite. A fear rose in me, how will I stay hidden when this place is so popular? Every person felt like they could be a scout for my dad or Jacksons family. And now I can’t even avoid them. No according to Edith. I have to go find them the salt or whatever they want. Granted it is a detour and my dad, is no where near a nature person. But still who knows what lengths he would go? I started to feel a panic attack rise in me. Just breath, just breath. I kept on telling myself. The memories of the last four years hurt. More than my parents splitting up, more than Jason coming from nowhere. More than finding out Chris isn’t even my real dad. I felt tears well up in me. Trying to pull myself together I stepped inside slowly, almost expecting something to move or creak beneath me. The wooden